A resident has launched a campaign to introduce an off-leash dog park in Sandbach.

Mark Hooley, 60, is calling for a secure place for people to take their dogs off the lead following the recent assault of a 43-year-old dog walker in Elworth, and had identified land off Green Street.

He also claims a dog park could be a solution to the problem of fouling in the town, which he says has blighted its streets.

Mark said: “This field is used by many local dog owners already and to their credit, the council has provided a dog waste bin. It is the only place in Sandbach that is dog-proof.

“I’ve had about 100 people in support of it, I’ve even had people from Middlewich saying if there was one they would drive to use it.

“The developers have supplied the land as an amenity for the community, so why can’t we use it as a dog park?”

However, the Chronicle has been told the land provided by developer Morris Homes when building Malt Kiln Way and Firth Close, is not yet council-owned.

Cheshire East Sandbach Town councillor, Barry Moran said when it’s transferred over to Cheshire East ‘later this year’ it will be used as a junior football pitch as first intended.

He said: “It became apparent last year that the Green Street play area site is not in Cheshire East’s ownership, as it should be, albeit maintained to an extent by the council.

“Once the legal formalities are complete, hopefully later in the year, then the intended goal posts can be erected and community activities can be launched.

“Along with residents, Sandbach Partnership is considering whether to investigate the feasibility of establishing a ‘dedicated dog park’ in Sandbach, recognising that locating and funding appropriate land will be a challenge.”

However, Elworth town councillor, Bleddyn Davies (Lab) who is a dog owner himself and has now taken on the responsibility of leading the campaign, said there is a good argument that the Green Street site is ideal because it requires ‘virtually no investment’.

He said: “This site is probably the best because of its location, but we are going to explore other options as well.

“At the moment I like the look of this site. The other big issue is managing the site and looking after it. We already have corporate sponsorship to set up dog-poo bins on site.”

Sandbach Partnership chairwoman Dot Flint said the way forward would be to set up a constituted group, which she would be ‘prepared’ to help residents organise.

She said: “Once you set a group up, you then have a voice who can go to Cheshire East and say this is who we are, these are our findings and aims and objectives, this is what we want and this is how we intend to look after it.”